Missing in collapsed building in Iowa is found dead

The body of one of three men missing after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, has been recovered a week after part of the six-story building collapsed, a city spokeswoman said Sunday.

The spokeswoman, Sarah Ott, said in an email that the body of 42-year-old Branden Colvin Sr. found Saturday. He is the first person confirmed to have died in the collapse.

Two other men – Ryan Hitchcock, 51, and Daniel Prien, 60 – are still missing since part of the building collapsed on May 28.

The city council said in a statement Thursday that it believed there was a “high probability” that the three men were “at home at the time of the collapse” and that “their apartments were in the collapse zone.”

Dozens protested outside the building last week, expressing concern that there were plans to demolish the building before all the missing people were found. While some occupants were escorted out before the collapse and others were rescued soon after, several people went missing in the days following the collapse.

Officials said on May 29 they did not know anyone else was trapped in the building, but a woman was pulled alive from the rubble that night. The demolition is still standing still.

The next day, officials said five people were missing and two of them would still be in the building. At one news conference on Thursday morning, the missing person estimates were revised again. Chief Jeff Bladel of the Davenport Police Department said police had since contacted relatives of two of the people believed to be missing and determined they were safe, leaving three people missing.

In the days following the collapse, Davenport officials released documents including construction reportswhich shows that the owner of the building, Andrew Wold, was warned that part of the building was unstable.

In a letter dated May 24, David Valliere, a structural engineer, warned that on the west side of the building, several pieces of brick facade were “separating from the foundation” and “appearing ready to fall.” Another wall, wrote Mr. Vallière, “seems to lose some stability and cause distortion.”

A number of residents had also registered complaints about the condition of the building. The day before the building collapsed, a development official at the center called 911 and warned about the integrity of the wall, according to documents obtained by the The Quad City Timesbased in Davenport.

Mr Wold said his company, Davenport Hotel LLC, was working closely with the American Red Cross and other agencies to assist displaced tenants. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants and families at this difficult time,” he said in a statement released Tuesday, which was published by The associated press.

Crews continued to remove debris from the site on Sunday, the city said in a statement. “This work will continue all day today with shifts working 24 hours a day.”